Bloomberg reports JPMoirgan, BofA, and Deutsche have "put off syndicating $3.19 billion of loans" for Scientific Games (SGMS-13.1%) that were meant to help finance its $5.1B acquisition of Bally Technologies (BYI-3.4%).

The bridge loans reportedly "failed to gather interest from investors by an Oct. 3 deadline" amid a backdrop of rising junk bond yields. $2B worth of other loans for the Scientific/Bally deal have already been marketed.

Sources state the pulled loans carry interest rates ranging from 5.75%-7.75%, and can be repaid with a high-yield bond offering.

The combination of Scientific Games (NASDAQ:SGMS) and Bally Technologies (NYSE:BYI) will create a gaming and lottery juggernaut able to stir up $220M in annual cost synergies and $25M in annual capex spending savings, according to the companies.

The pairing will also see "accelerated utilization" of various tax attributes on U.S. income which will help the bottom line.

The lush premium paid for Bally could give a lift sector peers Multimedia Games (NASDAQ:MGAM) and International Game Technology (NYSE:IGT) today.

In other news, Las Vegas Strip win revenue of $592.9M in May rose 17.3% Y/Y according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board. The state's nonrestricted gaming licensees reported total gaming win of $970M in May, up 8.1% from a year ago.

Reuters reports IGT (IGT+14.3%) has "attracted interest from other gaming companies as well as private equity firms," as it works with Morgan Stanley to explore a sale.

Presentations for prospective buyers are reportedly being held. Sources caution uncertainty related to the selloff in IGT's shares could turn buyers away, and that a lengthy regulatory review process might await.

Revenue from online gaming continues to disappoint in New Jersey. The Internet win for April for major players Borgata (BYD, MGM), Caesars Interactive (CZR), Trump, and Golden Nugget came in at $11.4M - less than $11.8M brought in during March. Original forecasts called for a take of over $30M a month in 2014.

Easy access to illegal online gambling operators is thought to be reducing customer traffic. As a result, gaming companies are having a tough time capturing their investments as quickly as anticipated and are turning conservative.

Boyd Gaming says it will cut advertising after recording a $3.2M loss from its Internet gaming business in Q1, while 888 Holdings (EIHDF) is shifting ad dollars to slots.

The total gaming win in New Jersey (online and brick-and-mortar casinos) through April is down 1.2% to $874M. (Full report .pdf)

The impact on brick-and-mortar casino traffic from legalized online gaming has been negligible so far in Nevada as well.

The American Gaming Association has dropped support for legalizing online gambling after seeing some major divisions between members on how a roll-out should progress.

Casino heavyweights have bickered over what the regulatory framework should be for the industry.

Though the launch of online gambling in Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware hasn't gone as well as expected with offshore operators still dominating, Morgan Stanley forecasted the legal online gambling market could reach $8B a year by 2020.